The purpose of this letter is to make Local Education Agencies (LEAs) aware of the solution for submitting data on industry certifications earned by students who graduated under one of the previous high school programs. This data will be used in the College, Career, and Military Readiness indicator of the Student Achievement domain in the new academic accountability system.

When LEAs began submitting this year’s fall PEIMS data and coded the class of 2017, many noticed the data on industry certifications earned were not collected for students who graduated on the Minimum, Recommended, or Distinguished Achievement High School Programs. These data were, however, collected for Foundation High School Program (FHSP) students as was the requirement of House Bill 2804 (84th Legislature, 2015). The intent of House Bill 22 (85th Texas Legislature, 2017) is for LEAs to report the completion of a first, second, and/or third postsecondary certification or licensure for all graduates, regardless of their high school graduation plan. The certification or licensure may be received at any time during the graduate’s high school career.

On December 1, 2017, the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) PEIMS application will be updated in order for the completion of first, second, and third postsecondary industry certifications or licensures to be reported on 2017 graduates. If you have already completed your Fall PEIMS First Submission, you may submit the additional data in the Fall PEIMS Resubmission due January 18, 2018. If you have not completed your Fall PEIMS First Submission, you will be able to load this data for all graduates starting December 2, 2017.